I was intrigued by Laura’s book description and thought you might be too. It sounds fun and different than your average cozy, or any mystery for that matter. And that’s what caught my attention. It’s a bit darker than you might be used to, but I’ve got on my reading list and I think you’ll want to add it to yours too. Lucifer and Mary Jane: All the Devil’s Horses is a paranormal cozy romance.

Laura, a Canadian, has lived an adventurous life in Northern Alberta and Northern Ontario. She now lives on Vancouver Island with her two cats and rescue dog. She writes cozy mysteries and horse stories with lovable villains and heroines. Read more about Laura on her Amazon Author page or follow her on Facebook. Be sure to stop by her website for more.

Who killed Mary Jane, a half-angel with an attitude? Was it someone from Heaven or from Hell? It was a great way to start a war! And who had the gall to steal the devil’s horses? It’s up to Mary Jane to find out. Her afterlife in Hell depends upon it and so does her heart!

Now lets read Laura’s answers to our questions…

Which is more important to your book, the mystery or the love story?
Mystery & characters first, then love story as the ‘B’ story. All my cozies are like that. Sometimes, the love story is slow and develops over the whole series, but in Lucifer and Mary Jane: All the Devil’s Horses, it is part of the story.

What type of love story plays out in your book—friends to love, enemy to love, instant love, or something else?
The type of love story that plays out in Lucifer and Mary Jane: All the Devil’s Horses is both: instant love and enemy to love. Mary Jane has so many dimensions to her character that it had to be both.

Does the love element cause problems for your protagonist?
The love problem definitely causes problems for Mary Jane. She has a job to do and it means surrendering the man she loves to the devil to face an eternity of torture and punishment. Will she take on her Uncle Lucifer to save him or will she sacrifice herself to the ultimate fate?

When you’re writing an emotionally draining (or sexy, or sad, etc.) scene, how do you get in the mood?
 When I write emotionally draining scenes, I start with a cup of tea and write the scene first thing in the morning before I even have breakfast. As soon as the first draft is done, I make myself a BLT sandwich or bacon and eggs, then go for a walk on the beach with my dog. Bacon and the sea cure everything. I don’t edit that scene until the next day after I have time to digest what I wrote – to either accept it ‘as is’ or soften it down.

What is the most surprising thing you discovered while writing your book?
The most surprising thing I discovered about writing this book is how much the secondary characters, Death and Doc Holiday, came to life. Originally they were very minor characters, but the more I wrote about them, the more fascinating they became so I enlarged their parts.

What comes first, the plot or characters?
Normally the plot comes first and then the characters for me, but in this book it was reversed. I had the two main characters, Lucifer and Mary Jane, and began with their family relationship in the opening scene where Mary Jane gets told by Saint Peter that she can’t pass through the Pearly Gates after she is murdered so she summons her Uncle Lucifer and begs him to help her. The result is the One Hour War between Heaven and Hell. Mary Jane becomes a reluctant celebrity in Hell. The romance angle wasn’t originally there, but as Mary Jane’s life and character unfolded, her desperation to find someone to love became more and more pronounced. The plot deepened in the end so the book isn’t just about who killed Mary Jane (cozy mystery) and bringing bandits to justice, it is about Mary Jane’s journey of self-discovery (romance).

Victoria LK Williams